Commercial optical fiber communication systems often require multiple fiber spans between plants to meet bandwidth and channel count demands. Since the optical cables that connect one plant to another are expensive to install, the cables often include multiple fibers, with some of the fibers (often called dark fibers) designated for future expansion or for redundancy. A typical optical cable can contain multiple ribbon fiber arrays, where each ribbon can contain multiple fibers. The cable can also contain multiple loose fibers in a loose-tube configuration. It is therefore understandable that the individual optical fibers require a unique visual identifier or color to be able to distinguish one optical fiber from the next in the cable.
Ribbon fibers contain multiple optical fibers, usually arranged side-by-side in a linear array, and the multiple fibers are surrounded by a matrix material operable to bind and protect the multiple fibers. However, the matrix material must also be able to peel away and separate from the individual fibers without excessive force that may cause damage to the optical fibers. Furthermore, if multiple optical fibers are placed in a loose tube, they must be able to independently slide against one another to avoid losses and dispersion due to binding stresses. To address both of these needs, optical fiber can be manufactured with a slick coating or release agent on the outer layer of the fiber to inhibit bonding with a ribbon matrix, or to allow loose tube fibers to slide against one another without binding.
To reduce the cost and additional off-line processes associated with the production of colored optical fiber with a slick coating, manufacturers have devised in-line dies and UV curing ovens that can coat the optical fiber with a colored coating having a release agent during the final stages of the draw process. Conventional colored secondary coatings have been formulated to include 1% to 20% reactive slickness additive. The simultaneous drawing, coating, and coloring of the fiber helps eliminate the time and cost associated with off-line coloring process. However, to maximize draw tower utilization, optical fiber manufactures often must produce colorless optical fiber for inventory so that it can be colored as needed later or sold to third party cable manufacturers. Therefore, a need remains for improved systems and methods for providing an optical fiber coating with a color concentrate having a slickness additive.